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This morning I flew United from Atlanta to Dulles to Detroit. I booked a reward coach ticket for work in exchange for some points. It definitely worked out in my favor!

I decided to buy and Economy plus seat on my leg from Dulles to Detroit. The Atlanta leg did not offer it (very small plane). It cost me $19 over and above the ticket price. Now that I have done it I am wondering: Was it worth it?

My Answer: Maybe.

I bought it since I needed to deplane quickly and get to my rental car and ultimately my first job site in the city. It saved me about 30 minutes (my own estimate) over a standard seat.

The seat itself: I thought it was pretty good. Being 6'2" I really liked the extra leg room. It seemed to be the same as most smaller plane exit row seats. It was appreciated. The recline seemed to be the same as all other economy seats. If there was more I certainly did not notice it!

Would I pay for it again?

My Answer: only if it was a longer (3+ hour) flight. I can survive a couple of hours in a normal coach seat if I have too. If I am going across the country the value of the extra space increases since I will be stuck there a lot longer.

Pricing: It would be more fair of United (or any other airline) to make the Economy Plus seats an upgrade fee per direction instead of per segment. Those costs can really jump if you have to connect a lot. It also helps us not feel nickel-and-dimed. Just combine the two fees and drop the price a little.

As a Delta Elite flyer I will certainly be using the economy comfort seats as they become more widely available. I rarely, if ever, get upgrades and the extra room means more to me flying all the time. I am interested in trying them on a longer haul international flight also. If I have to buy a ticket instead of using miles I would pay for the extra comfort.